Canada moves one step closer to protecting its fishing communities
In late June, just before its summer recess, the House marked a pivotal moment in the history of Canada’s fisheries by forwarding legislation to the Senate to amend the Fisheries Act. Unbeknown to most, the House vote was the culmination of two decades of relentless advocacy to have Parliament adopt legislation to protect independent, owner-operator […]
Pakistan: dammed if you do, damned if you don’t
“India is shrinking the flow of water into Pakistan,” Pakistan’s chief justice Saqib Nisar reportedly said on Saturday, renewing a ban on showing Indian TV shows and Bollywood films on Pakistani television. “They are trying to [obstruct the construction] of our dam and we cannot even close their [television] channels?” On the face of it, […]
The right-wing roots of carbon pricing
Today’s fight over carbon pricing isn’t the ideological battle of the century. That would be a historic misunderstanding of our future by politicians fighting the last war. Despite Premier Doug Ford’s fulminations, this week’s embrace of pollution pricing by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t proof of a left-wing plot to pick the pockets of Canadians. […]
Liberals stake party’s future on pricing pollution, for second time in a decade
Is a carbon tax a hill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is willing to die on? That question had been in the back of many political minds since Ontario—under its new PC government—bailed out of the federal climate change framework last spring. That resulted in a shift in the provincial balance from mostly behind Trudeau’s carbon-pricing […]
How to end Canada’s cycle of making and breaking global commitments on climate change
Since 1992, Canada has struck out on three global climate agreements, failing to live up to promises made in Rio, Kyoto, and Copenhagen to cut climate pollution. But Canada doesn’t have to keep doing this—some of our allies have already developed systems that will keep them on track to meet their climate targets, and Canada […]
Excluding Indigenous voices at Columbia River Treaty talks puts salmon restoration at risk
Salmon used to swim all the way up the Columbia River from the Pacific Ocean near Astoria, Oregon, to the Canadian Rocky Mountains at the river’s headwaters in Canal Flats, B.C. It was an astounding journey of nearly 2,000 kilometres upstream that cut through a landscape of lush forest, dry desert, and high peaks. But […]
Doppler radar, $10 garage-opener remote, 505 phones: feds lose $18-million of property in 2017-18
The federal government lost 505 BlackBerrys and other mobile devices, 152 computers, and a “public transit token” curiously valued at $153 in 2017-18, newly released public accounts figures show. A total of 461 government-owned Blackberry and other mobile devices were reported accidentally lost by government workers in the 2017-18 fiscal year. Another 44 phones were […]
Why oilpatch suits are trying to boot Bill C-69
“Suits and Boots” is a last-minute industry campaign to derail Bill C-69, environmental legislation passed by the House of Commons in June. Bill C-69 would reform the process for assessing the impacts of proposed resource projects, and modernize the discredited National Energy Board. Conservative Senators, alongside Independent Senators Group Sen. Doug Black, who represents Alberta, […]
Climate change editorial helps build political will, shot in the arm
Re: “Trudeau should be doing so much more to fight climate change,” (The Hill Times, Oct. 15, p. 8). What a delight to return home from lobbying with the Citizens’ Climate Lobby on Parliament Hill last Tuesday—in support of carbon pricing—to read your editorial urging ramped up action on climate change. The Hill Times is […]
Canada’s aviation policy should reflect the unique challenges of the North
As a Senator representing a territory with 25 fly-in only communities, I and many Nunavummiut take great interest in changes to aviation regulations and policies. The carbon tax, for instance, set to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2019, poses a major threat to further increasing the cost of living for Nunavut residents who are […]
